Postpartum Hemorrhage : Symptoms And Treatments

Giving birth to a baby is the most amazing and miraculous experiences for parents and their loved ones. Every woman’s birth story is different and full of joy. Furthermore, the process from the moment a woman knows that she’s pregnant to being in the delivering room is very critical to both her and the newborn baby. Prenatal care is extremely important and it can impact greatly the quality of life of the baby. In this paper, the topic of giving birth will be discussed thoroughly by describing the stories of two mothers who gave birth in different decades and see how their prenatal cares are different from each other with correlation of the advancement of modern medicine between four decades.

Hemorrhages, or internal bleeding, account for a large portion of deaths in the world. Hemorrhages are an extremely life threatening injury that require immediate medical attention. These injuries are extremely sensitive to the time of injury and the time it takes for surgery to begin. Hemorrhages fall into two main categories: non-compressible and compressible. Compressible hemorrhages can be treated with external compression, tourniquets, and dressings. Non-compressible hemorrhages can not be treated with these techniques, because the injury is usually deep inside the abdominal part of the body and either not visible, or not within reach. This makes non-compressible hemorrhages much more challenging to treat.

Childbirth is one of the greatest privileges on the earth anyone could have and we, as women, should feel proud to be major contributors for it. Thus, a mother has to play a key role in aiding the healthcare workers to mitigate the health crisis associated with childbirth by performing her duties faithfully. One such associated health crisis is “Premature (preterm) birth” which occurs when the baby is born too early, before 37 weeks of gestational period (CDC, 2015). The rate of preterm birth ranges from 5% to 18% of babies born across 184 countries (WHO, 2015).

Randomization was used to generate what patient went to which group. The way the patients were chosen eliminated bias because “Randomization was performed according to a computer-generated list by means of sequentially numbered, opaque, sealed envelopes which revealed the allocation of the subject to either induction or expectant management”(Nielsen et al. p. 60). This secure randomization added a great strength to the study. The sample size seemed fairly large, 226 patients were split into 116 for elective induction and 110 to expectant management, although the power analysis was disclosed in this study and determined that 600 patients were required. Only 226 patients were used and because it would take 4 years to reach the required amount of patients, the study was discontinued. This was both a strength and weakness because disclosing this information made the study more honest but the quota needed to reach the best answers was not attained. The study for the 226 patients was pretty standard with the 80% power and alpha at 0.05. T-test and chi square tests were used to compare the proportions between the groups of people. The women were chosen based on the inclusion criteria of being 39 weeks gestation or older, maternal age of more than 17, fetal cephalic presentation, singleton gestation, a candidate for vaginal delivery, and a Bishop score of 5 or greater in nulliparous women and 4 or greater for multiparous women. This inclusion criterion was a concern because both nulliparous women and multiparous women were being tested together. This was a weakness because the labor patterns of a nulliparous woman compared to a multiparous woman are very variable and sure to distort study data. It was also disclosed how gestational age was achieved which included the crown rump test measured in 6-12

A concern that many women have who have undergone cesarean birth, is whether or not they can have a vaginal birth after. The answer is yes; they can have a vaginal birth, but only if the incision made was a horizontal one. The benefits are the woman ass’d with fewer blood transfusions, fewer post-partum infections and shorter hospital stays (Rose, 1). On the other hand there are many risks: the uterine may rupture, it could result in maternal and

umbilical cord after the baby is born, and can be used to treat many diseases, including cancer.

A cesarean hysterectomy is performed to prevent blood loss that can become life-threatening if any of the placenta remains attached after delivery. Women can suffer severe complications caused by heavy vaginal bleeding after delivery due to disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, which stops blood from clotting properly. Lung Failure and kidney failure are also known complications from the surgery.

Many woman give up in labor and beg the doctor to perform a cesarean section or many times the doctor does not want to wait for the laboring patient to progress on their terms and will call for a cesarean section. A cesarean section is a major abdominal surgery. Many woman are not educated in the short and long term effects of having one to be able to stay as far away from them. Maternal complications can be both physical and emotional due to the fact that the woman will not be able to care for her infant exclusively on her own during the recovery period. The first and most common complication with a cesarean section is surgical site infections. This could be caused by many things. It could be a cause of not cleaning the skin properly, a break in sterile technique, or personal hygiene of the wound during the recovery period. It can also be caused by the way the incision is closed. “ The use of staples for skin closure was associated with a marginally statistically significant increase in surgical site infections” (Corcoran 2013, pg. 1262). Infections can also be seen as urinary tract infections, endometritis, and pneumonia. Another complication that can occur from a cesarean section is a thrombus which can lead to pulmonary embolism. When a person has a cesarean section, they are bed bond more than a vaginal delivery. This causes the blood to not circulate in their legs

The second section focused on the act of labor and delivery, including first three hours of infant birth, followed by postpartum care and breastfeeding. The speaker spoke about the current practices that occur within the hospital's labor and delivery department. When speaking about delayed cord clamping, she discussed why this is important and even mentioned the volume of blood an infant lacks when the umbilical cord is clammed or cut too soon after birth. While discussing breastfeeding, she briefly mentioned infant blood glucose screenings, and the evidence that is published regarding encouraging breastfeeding within the first hour of

Postpartum hemorrhage kills more new mothers than any other cause—an estimated 71,800 annually ("Driving progress toward 2015").

Postpartum complications are typically health complications in women that we associate with a full term delivery. For women who experience a miscarriage, there is a marked risk for post-partum complications as well. If you have recently terminated a pregnancy, or experienced spontaneous miscarriage, it is important to know what health complications may arise especially those complications associated with hormonal imbalances. Postpartum thyroiditis is one of the most under diagnosed health complications in women who have had a sudden end to a pregnancy. As a condition that can lead to the secondary development of depression, complications with weight gain, and a complication with body temperature regulation, many doctors simply dismiss the

Vaginal Bleeding is on top of that list, bleeding the first few weeks after a baby is born is usually not your period but referred to as shedding the unwanted tissues and blood during this time. Bleeding should be getting lighter as the days go by, but if you are bleeding excessively, soaking through a pad in 1 hour, then you should be contacting your doctor or go the nearest emergency room.

There are many different factors that a mother in labor can experience that can impact the postpartum period. These factors differ for every pregnant woman such as the invasiveness of procedures that occur, the interventions that are put in place to alleviate pain, and expectant outcomes that change how the postpartum period is experienced. One procedure that this patient experienced was a cesarean section. This procedure is quite invasive and can have a difficult healing process associated with it. Common concerns of the mothers about her body and newborn can be dominated by pain at the incision site and abdominal discomfort (Lowdermilk et. al., 2016, p. 792). Women who undergo a cesarean section also have to deal with increased tenderness

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is a significantly life-threatening complication that can occur after both vaginal and caesarean births (Ricci & Kyle, 2009). Simpson and Creehan (2008) define PPH as the amount of blood loss after vaginal birth, usually more than 500mL, or after a caesarean birth, normally more than 1000mL. However, the definition is arbitrary, attributed to the fact that loss of blood during birth is intuitive and widely inaccurate (Ricci & Kyle, 2009). In line with this, studies have suggested that health care providers consistently underestimate actual blood loss, thus, an objective definition of PPH would be any amount of bleeding that exposes a mother in hemodynamic jeopardy (Ricci &

This woman was invited to the maternity assessment unit due to spontaneous rupture of membranes. This is her first birth in this country as her other 3 children were born in India- All normal vaginal deliveries. Although, her antenatal period had been low risk, she had not had a recent enough full blood count (FBC) taken, which would put her at risk of having a low Hb level and due to her parity – she could also be at risk of a postpartum hemorrhage (Royal college of obstetricians & gynaecologists, 2009). Therefore, the decision was made to put her on delivery suite rather than in the low risk birth centre.